March 27
Meghan had me cuddled up in her arms again, with my head tucked just under her chin. She was drooling into my mane just a little bit, too: I could feel a damp spot just by my right ear. I didn't mind all that much. It was nice just to be with her.
I just sort of dozed off until she woke up and reached across me to get to her telephone. She kind of reached over me and brushed her breasts across my head which felt really weird. Then she set her phone back down and rolled onto her back and said that she didn't want to get up.
Well, I didn't mind staying in bed for just a little bit longer, so I rolled over to where I could put a foreleg on her chest and rested my head on her arm, and she reached across with her other hand and started petting my mane.
She said that we ought to get up and get ready for church. She said that she had to take a shower and do her hair and I said that I should do the same.
Meghan told me that it would be most efficient if she took a shower first and then I took a shower, and she could help me dry off and with my mane and tail too. I'd planned to just go back to my dorm, but I didn't want to turn down the opportunity for her to brush me, so I said that was a good idea as long as she let me pee before she went into the bathroom.
When I was done, she was still in bed, and she'd pulled the covers up over herself. I sat down on the foot of the bed and told her that it was her turn, and she nodded then looked down at the covers and I thought she would wrap herself up in them like Peggy had, but she decided not to and pushed them down and got out of bed.
Since her bathroom was attached to her room, she didn't have to have a little basket full of shower supplies: she just went into the room and closed the door, and I set my head down on the bed to wait for her to be done.
I must have dozed off again, because the next thing I knew she was shaking me gently and telling me that it was my turn.
After I’d finished my shower, she had me stand on a towel on her bed and dried me off, then got up on the bed with me and had me stretch out to where she could brush my mane. I told her that she ought to get dressed first—she only had a robe on—but she said that this way if she wouldn't have to worry about getting hair on her Sunday clothes.
That was smart of her; I wound up leaving a lot of hair on her robe, which made me feel bad, but she said that it was okay, that was why she was wearing it.
When she was satisfied with how I looked, she got dressed in a black skirt and a white bra, then she went into the bathroom to do her makeup before she put her blouse on.
The two of us went to the dining hall for a quick breakfast, and then back to my dorm room so that I could get dressed. It was kind of funny how I had to tell her what to do, although I suppose if I'd had to help her dress she would have been doing the same.
We went into the chapel ten minutes before the service started. Meghan picked a seat that was near the center, and we both waved at people we knew as we went by. I was expecting it to only be students, but there were some older people that I didn't know here and there. They might have been professors, or they could have been people from the community.
There was a black-haired girl who I'd never seen before sitting on a bench in the back playing the organ, and the whole front of the church was filled with lilies, from one side to the other.
Meghan held out a program for me, and once I'd gotten comfortable in my seat I started to read through it. The back of the pew in front of us had little pocket-shelves on it that held a Bible and two red books Meghan said were called hymnals, which was where the words we'd be singing were.
I guess I was paying too much attention to the church without even noticing what was going on, because all of a sudden there was a pause before the organist started a new song, and as soon as she'd begun everybody was standing up.
That was a lot easier for them than it was for me. The pews weren't made with ponies in mind, and I had to kind of stretch forward and prop my hooves on the pew in front of me.
Meghan held the hymnal down so that I could see it, and pointed to a page that not only had words but also the music.
Even before I'd figured out where we were, a choir started singing behind us, and then everybody in the audience joined in with them.
The choir filed by us and went all the way up front, where there were pews for them to sit, and when the song was over, they all sat down, and we did too.
Meghan leaned over and said that if it was too difficult for me to stand up I could stay sitting, but I didn't want to be the only one sitting down.
Once it had quieted down a little bit, Liz came out from a door in back and stepped up to the podium. She had on a robe like the choir did, but it was white, and had a white scarf that had symbols all over it and draped across the front. She greeted everyone, and then started reading our first lesson from the Bible, which was from Acts, and I tried to follow along but hadn't even found the page yet before she was done.
Then she said a prayer and we sang another song. I was hoping that there wouldn't be a sacrifice; there had been a lot in the Bible so far about animal sacrifices and I could really do without seeing that. But nothing in the program said there was going to be.
Liz went back up to the podium and then read several verses from the end of Mark, and then went right into her sermon, about how Jesus had been crucified, died, and been buried, and then on the third day He had risen again but that we shouldn't be afraid like Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome had been afraid, that we should go out and spread the good word.
When she was done, she said that we would have communion to remind us of Jesus' sacrifice for us, and she explained the Last Supper to us, and there were words in the hymnal that we had to say at the right time, then we all went to the front where a woman from the choir tore off a small piece of bread for us and then Liz held a chalice full of wine which we dipped the bread into.
After everyone had had communion, we sang another song, and the choir walked down the aisle and out of the church, followed by Liz. She stopped in front of the doors and gave a benediction and then the organist started playing happy music.
She stayed by the door and shook everybody's hand or gave them a hug as they were leaving. I hugged her and she asked how my reading was going, and I said that I'd gotten to Joshua and promised that I would do better. I said that it was hard reading about how the people kept messing up and making God mad, and Liz told me that was human nature, and people were still like that.
I asked her why He couldn't have made people who would follow His rules, and she asked me if I'd rather be born a slave, or choose my path of my own free will.
She had a bunch of other stuff to do, so she couldn't meet with me today, but she said that maybe we could meet on Thursdays for coffee or tea, and I said that was a good idea, and promised her that I'd have finished Joshua by then.
Meghan helped me get out of my dress, and then I went back to her room and hung out with her until it was lunchtime, then we both went our separate ways after lunch.
I spent the afternoon with the door open, greeting neighbors as they came back. Ruth and Kat and Monica and Barbara and Rebekka and then after dinner Peggy finally returned and she just dropped her bag on the floor and wrapped her arms around me in a great big hug. I thanked her for taking the time to come out and see us on the train, and she said that her parents really liked me and that she thought my friends were pretty cool.
We probably could have stayed up all night talking, but tomorrow was the first day of new classes, and it would be good to be well-rested for that.